Frank Lampard has suffered some serious stick from some West Ham fans over the years after he joined London rivals Chelsea – being a Chelsea fan, I know. But he has a knack of taking the abuse onto his shoulder and let it inspire him to superb performances, which is exactly what happened today against the Hammers.
Ignoring the vitriol that was thrown at him, he calmly slotted home a penalty after Jussi Jaaskelainen wiped out an impressive Oscar, before wrapping the game up with Chelsea’s third. Arriving on the edge of the box, Lampard fired hard and low into the corner of the net.
However, it wasn’t only his goals that caught the eye. His ball retention was also nice to watch. As well as strolling round the pitch with the ball at his feet, he also completed 85% of his 53 attempted passes.
Amazingly, Lampard has seven shots at goal from his deep position, but that may be due to the fact he was alongside John Obi Mikel. It allowed him to get forward in the game, and only two of those seven were off target.
You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but the old tricks that Lampard holds is more than enough to see him still make an big impact in the Premier League.